Toor Jan, 11, Abdul Wodood, 12, Victims of Obama's War

Dear Mr. President,
Two more innocent children murdered by your war in Afghaistan. Toor Jan, 11 and Abdul Wodood, 12. Gathering firewood, walking behind their donkeys. Gunned down by a helicopter gunship. Two boys mistaken for insurgents in an area where, according to the head of the district council, there was no insurgent activity, but according to a spokesman for the provincial government there had been insurgent activity and the helicopter had been fired on, and according to a spokesman for the provincial police chief, the helicopter was hunting Taliban by tracking their radio signals: “There wasn’t any engagement with the Taliban …they thought they detected a Taliban radio signal.” There’s little difference between this incident and that one last October where 3 children gathering dung were gunned down by a helicopter gunship. Or the one in March 2011 where 9 were slaughtered. Only the names and numbers of victims change. There’s an article in today’s NYT about the Marines in Helmand Province; part of your surge in 2010. 21,000 of them came; 360 died, 4,700 were wounded, no numbers for how many they killed and wounded. They’re leaving now, packing up, heading off to other places, part of America’s war enterprise. They’re “trying to beat the Army to the exit,” according to the article and have already shipped out 2/3 of their materiel. Their sprawling headquarters, Camp Leatherneck, looks “as desolate as frontier ghost towns.” The war came to Helmand Province with all its violence and carnage and now it’s leaving. In a visit last month, Marine Corps General James Amos declared, “Two years from now, [Camp Leatherneck] is going to be empty.” He’s right. The marines have done the job, created a “security bubble that has allowed governance to shoot up,” according to another general, and yet, even the generals concede that the Afghan Army which will take over when they leave, lacks basic capabilities, there is no loyalty to the government, the poppy fields are flourishing, the region is lawless with corrupt officials, tribal leaders and drug gangs fighting each other, and violence has gone up in the past year. Yes, in 2 years, General Amos, everything will go back to the way it was before we arrived: the Taliban will take over and the people will be worse off than they were before. Was it worth it? No doubt in the generals’ minds. “I think history has proven it was the right thing to do,” General Amos said. Tell that to Toor Jan and his brother Abdul Wodood.